Editor's comment: The importance of creating a community for hospitality

It’s peak autumn in the Perthshire countryside. And all that can be seen from the windows from the grand Glendevon Lounge at the Gleneagles hotel in Auchterarder are striking colours of red, gold and brown.

This was the location of the Hotelier of the Year 2024 celebrations, earlier this week, where the Ned’s group managing director, Gareth Banner, was brought to the hotel in secret to be revealed to a room of his peers as the winner at an elegant lunch hosted by Gleneagles’ managing director Conor O’Leary and his magnificent team.

The Hotelier of the Year brings together the crème de la crème of the British hotel industry and is one of The Caterer’s favourite moments in our calendar. But this year the event was competing with Westminster as the room of hoteliers sat down to lunch at the exact moment Rachel Reeves unveiled her first Autumn statement.

The headlines for hospitality were certainly grim. But looking around at the room of friends and colleagues joining together for an afternoon of celebration, I was struck by the talent and camaraderie of our esteemed guests.

These leaders relish any opportunity to be hospitable, clearly demonstrated by the marvellous experience Gleneagles laid out for us. And the conversations of support and inspiration was a pleasure to witness.

There are moments of the Hotelier of the Year event that remind me of The Caterer’s Acorns 30-under-30 event which celebrates the brightest rising stars in the hospitality industry. Both the Hotelier of the Year and the 30 Acorns each year are invited to join an “exclusive club” with fellow members cheering on their peers as they are recognised for their incredible achievements. It also warms me to think that several of our hoteliers at lunch on Wednesday were former Acorns themselves, and how the Acorns who have been recognised in recent years will go on to achieve much more in their careers – and I have no doubt there is a Hotelier of the Year 2035 among them.

The idea of creating a community for hospitality is so important for The Caterer, whether it’s Hotelier of the Year, the Acorns, Cateys alumni or our People Network – places for colleagues to share their time and expertise with peers, and also to relax in each other’s company.

Because really the exclusive club is the hospitality industry itself – the members being a workforce of 3.5 million which directly contributes £93b annually to the economy and who go above and beyond to create memorable moments for guests time and time again.

New analysis from UKHospitality revealed that employment tax measures in Wednesday’s budget will increase the cost of employing a full-time staff member by at least £2,500. And feedback from the sector is that this eyewatering number is just not sustainable, says UKHospitality chief executive Kate Nicholls. “[It] will ultimately do real harm to our ability to support employment.”

And while no-one in hospitality will say its workforces don’t deserve those increases, ultimately the money is being squeezed out of an industry which has had little to no help from this or the last government – and this could be make or break for many businesses which have been squeezed one too many times over the last four years.

But what gives us hope is this hospitality community – or club! – with its members willing to support each other through increasingly difficult times and share inspirational stories to get us through the dark moments. And looking around the room at Hotelier of the Year, these leaders really care about this industry, and with the wealth of experience they will pass on to the next generation of talent, along with the resilient nature of hospitality, we will hopefully be able to keep providing those memorable moments for a long time to come.